The best green soup…..ever!

If you, like me, are swimming in a sea of zucchini at the moment, you may appreciate this recipe. I love zucchini bread, zucchini and lime cake, zucchini and almond pesto for my pasta but I have just made this up as a way of using up big quantities of fresh zucchini and their flowers. This is enough for four plus an equal batch to freeze for a busy day.

1 tbsp butter

I large red onion, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 litres roughly chopped zucchini (flowers set aside if you have them)

1.5 litres vegetable stock

1 parmesan rind or a handful of grated pecorino or parmesan

6 leaves mint

1 large handful of parsley leaves

1 small handful of basil leaves

1 small handful chives

Start by melting the butter in a large, heavy bottomed, stock pan. Add the onion, garlic and celery until it softens and just starts to colour. Add the zucchini, stir well and put on the lid for ten minutes or until the zucchini has softened a little. Pour on the hot stock and add the parmesan skin. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 20 minutes, or the zucchini is tender. Remove the parmesan skin, scraping off any oozy bits, and throw in the herbs and flowers. Blitz with a stick blender (or soup dragon as we call it!) and taste for seasoning. Done!